His Will
by TheNoobTalk
Summary: Everyone knows that Naruto has a strong will; but what happens when the fire to that will vanishes? When Sakura left, Naruto lost his reason to live, the reason to protect, the reason to fight; because a will without its fire is nothing more than a washed out fire.


AN: A new NaruSaku fic by yours truly :) Enjoy!

**His Will**

**Prologue Part 1 - Confusion**

The night was cold with thick winter like winds blowing around the streets of Konoha. Everyone around was already dressed in their thick winter clothing like the snow was already pouring, but really, it was only mid-autumn.

Naruto walked through the street with barely enough clothing suitable for the current weather. As he strolled forward, the people around him stared at him incredulously as if he was crazy. All he was wearing was a plain black tank top and pair of black baggy shinobi pants. He was quite confused at all the questioning stares he was getting – It wasn't that he wasn't comfortable with it. Heck, he'd been dealing with all types of stares all his life. Be it the hate glares from his childhood to the respective gazes he got at his arrival back to the village after the Fourth Great War.

But the stares he was getting were puzzling. He wasn't doing anything weird...right? Naruto shook his head with a short chuckle. Who cared what they think about him, it wasn't relevant anyway. All that was relevant to him now was a hot steamy bowl of ramen – Especially after another hard day of just full, hard-core training in the fields.

The truth was, Tsunade had suggested him for ANBU, and of course he was accepted, but even with his level of skills, they still needed to test him for what he was capable of. So for the past few days, he had been working his butts off to ready himself for the upcoming test. He was already promoted to jonin, now he was going to take it up further and become an ANBU. After all, he still wanted to become the Hokage – A step up is a step closer to his dream, right?

But of course, he still had a lot to learn. He was still and only sixteen anyway.

Walking through the evening rush, Naruto saw a flash of pink appearing in the crowd. His breath hitched when the familiar face of his teammate appeared among the crowd. She was beautiful as ever as she walked along the street. Like everyone else around, she wore a thick coat over her clothes. But Naruto knew that she was still cold, evident from how red her cheeks were and the way she hugged herself as she walked.

Normally, if he ever saw her during anytime or anywhere, he would certainly approach her like a good friend should. But lately, every time he was close to her, or even in her sight, he would feel a slight uneasiness in his stomach. Like he had just met her, like he hadn't known her for years.

Really, it was because of _that_ day when she confessed to him. He knew that the reason for it was because she cared, but did she really meant every word she said; especially when she had said she loved him? The thought and memory of it literally made him shiver. Not to mention thinking about it would make him nervous around her.

Naruto's eyes shined as it followed her every move. He resumed walking, afraid that he would attract attention – He wouldn't want her to notice him. But of course, life had a weird way of dealing with him. As soon as he started walking, Sakura instantly noticed him and called out his name. "Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto cursed at his luck. But she saw him, he had to play along now. Turning around, Naruto forced out the best grin he could muster. "Sakura-chan? Didn't see you there."

"Oh well, it's the evening rush, you can barely recognize anyone through this crowd," she said sheepishly with a dismissive wave. "Actually, I was just heading to the training fields to find you."

"Me?" Naruto said incredulously. "What for?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to get some Ichiraku Ramen for dinner," Sakura said with a sweet smile, a smile that could make all sorts of explosions in his stomach.

Heck yeah, the explosion was there alright, right in his stomach. But something else was there too, something that felt alien to him. Why was he feeling like this when he was with her? The mysterious feeling intensified when she stepped closer towards him. "So how about it?"

The feeling was too much to bear and it forced Naruto to take a step back, a step away from her. "I don't think I can Sakura," Naruto said, eyes casted down, away from her gaze. Even without seeing it, Naruto could sense her surprise. "I...uh...have too...um, finish some errands that Tsunade gave me earlier." He felt his heart clench in pain. Lying to Sakura was always the hardest thing for him to do.

Eyes avoiding Sakura, Naruto muttered a short sorry before turning back to walk away.

Unknown to him, by avoiding her gaze, he had faintly scratched the shell of her heart.

**xXx**

The weather for the next day was a relief to most of Konoha's citizens. The sun was up high in the sky, heating the frost brought by last night's weather. Naruto loved this weather. It reminded him of all the happy days he had in Konoha – The days when he was young busy executing pranks; the days when team seven was still fresh; and especially, the days when Jiraiya was still alive.

Naruto let out a faint smile as he rested his head against a tree, legs stretched out and sprawled away from each other. He sighed, satisfied with his morning training. He had managed to work on every jutsu he had listed in his mind successfully. His satisfaction grew when he realised that he managed to do it all in the limited timeframe he had set himself.

Letting out a small groan, Naruto pushed himself up and stretched his slightly aching muscles. Well, it was time for business. Judging from the sun's position, he had around an hour left before he was to stand for duty. Sighing, Naruto knelt down to pick up his discarded plain black shirt (he figured that it was easier for his skin to breathe if he wasn't wearing anything for training) and his favourite, almost outgrown, jacket. He was reluctant to accept the fact that it was actually getting too small for him – Sakura had berated him about it non-stop.

Naruto laughed at that before setting his lips into a thin smile. He felt guilty with what he did yesterday. Scratch that, he was dying because of what he did. Sakura was actually the one to ask him for ramen, something that he was supposed to do, and what did he do? He denied her and left her without much of an explanation.

God he hated himself. Next time, he promised himself – The next time he sees Sakura, he'd make sure to make it up to her.

The tip of Naruto's ears twitch as he sensed a presence behind him. Turning around, he grunted when he saw an ANBU standing patiently behind him. It seemed that he was due for duty an hour earlier.

"Hokage summoned me?" Naruto asked with a sigh.

The ANBU nodded without uttering a word.

Naruto chuckled at the ANBU's quiet response. "Yeah, tell her I'll be there."

He scrunched his shirt into a ball and used it to wipe the remaining sweat left on his skin before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Appearing into his living room, Naruto casually walked straight into his bathroom for a quick shower, though a quick shower for Naruto meant that he had to _everything_ quickly whilst in the shower – this included brushing his teeth, while scrubbing both his hair and body simultaneously.

Quickly rinsing himself dry with a towel, Naruto did a small jog to his room. "What to wear…" he muttered to himself repeatedly. He examined his closet and sighed, it seemed that his orange and black jacket was out of the question as the one he was wearing before was soaked with sweat and covered in dirt.

Making up his mind, Naruto pulled out a tight fitting black shirt and a pair of regular, baggy shinobi pants. Lastly, after putting on the clothes, he pulled out a stiff and fresh green vest. He grinned at the piece of clothing – It was his Jonin vest, something that's still a new addition to his daily attire.

Naruto moved himself to the full length mirror stuck to the inside of his closet door. "Looks simple enough," _even without the orange_, he thought with a sigh; though his attire wasn't complete. He still needed to tie on his headband and attach his kunai pouch to the side of his pants.

After putting on the last touches, Naruto once again moved to the front of the mirror. Now, a grin formed on his lips. "That's better."

**xXx**

Dashing from roof to roof, Naruto breathed in the crisp air that was rushing into his face. He loved the feel of wind against his face, especially during missions – Its coolness, and its sudden harshness would always keep him awake and on the ball.

Like Sakura's punches.

Naruto snickered at that thought. People would probably think he was crazy if he told them how her punches meant a lot to him. It was like his wake up call, a boost of energy, a force that in many cases had aided him (literally, one time, she actually had to hit him just to get him out of the way from an attack).

Yes, every time a sudden gush of wind would blast itself into his face, he would be reminded of his highly cherished, pink haired teammate. Though this time, it did not bring a smile to his face, instead, a guilty expression marred his face.

Sighing, Naruto pushed the memories of last night away.

The grand size of the Hokage tower defined itself in the distance. Naruto, seeing that the buildings ahead were far too far apart from each other, leaped down from the rooftop onto the streets. Of course, with his unexpected appearance, the civilians around him flinched slightly – though their surprise was quickly washed away as they saw who it was.

"Naruto-san!" one civilian yelled in joy. Others quickly followed in and before Naruto knew it, he was surrounded by a thick crowd of fans.

Naruto loved all the attention he was getting, it was one of his dreams to be recognised by the whole village, but this…well this was a bit too much.

"Morning everyone," Naruto said, feeling awkward. "I, uh…have some stuff to do, so if you guys could just move please, that would be very helpful." He tried, but from all the noise the crowd was making, even his loud voice wasn't enough. Thinking that talking to the crowd was pointless, Naruto leaped up and over the crowd before jogging away with a reckless wave and a loud goodbye.

As he came closer towards the Hokage tower, more and more shinobi were located along the streets. Unlike the civilians, the shinobis were more mindful of a ninja on duty, so instead of crowding him like the civilians did back there, they instead gave him something as simple as a wave or a short morning as he passed by.

Naruto, being the loud person he is, replied back with a loud 'morning!' or an enthusiastic 'hello'.

It wasn't until five minutes later when he arrived at the entrance to the Hokage's office, face slightly red with his haste to get here.

Naruto brought his hand up for a knock but the knob to one of the two huge doors shook, twisted and clicked, unlocking the door before he had the chance to actually knock. It was Shizune on the other side of door with stacks of folders cradled against her chest. "Shizune-san!" Naruto exclaimed, surprised.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, you're right on time," Shizune replied with a smile. "Tsunade-sama is waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" Naruto chuckled. "Must be an important mission I guess."

"Well go in then and find out," Shizune freed one hand out of the folder's weight and pinched Naruto's cheek playfully. She left with a happy smile.

Naruto shook his head and chuckled at her playfulness. "So Baa-chan, what's the load for today?" he asked with enthusiasm as he entered the room. Her response was a thick book flying straight at his face. He barely dodged it.

"Damn! Why can't I hit you with one of those anymore?" Tsunade raged, highly annoyed.

Naruto simply shrugged. "It's reflex I guess."

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples. God she was getting old. "Whatever," she said with a dismissive wave. She looked up towards Naruto and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You look, um…light today." She was talking about his choice of clothes. All he was wearing was his jonin vest, a tight fitting black shirt, and standard black pants. What ever happened to all the orange?

Naruto stared at her with a confused expression before finally getting her point. He looked down at his clothes before letting out a laugh. "Oh this," he said gesturing towards his attire. "Well you see, my jacket's in the wash, and the same goes with my orange pants. It's kind of weird not having them on."

"Right…" she murmured, now uninterested. "It's good to see you in something that's not orange."

"Hey! Orange suits me quite well."

"Yeah, if you're not completely covered in it," Tsunade retorted with a roll of her eyes.

Naruto's shoulders dropped in defeat. "You're mean Baa-chan," he whined.

"Oh grow up, Naruto."

Naruto sighed. "Fine," he muttered. "Just brief me with the mission already."

"Not yet," Tsunade replied. "There's still one more person that I'm waiting for," Three knocks were heard straight after. Tsunade grinned. "I think that's her. Come in!"

"Her?" Naruto mused. He turned to see who it was and was quite surprised with what came up. "Sakura-chan?" he blurted, surprised.

It was quite obvious that he wasn't the only one surprised – It seemed that she was too. "Naruto?"

"Wow," Tsunade interjected, quite surprised herself too. "Looks like you two haven't seen each other in a while."

Both didn't respond, instead, they shared a long look before Sakura broke it with a shook of her head. "Um, no Tsunade-sama," she replied with a shaky laugh. "I was just surprised, that's all."

"What she said," Naruto added in.

Tsunade switch gazes between the two and couldn't find anything that could explain their unusual behaviour towards each other. "I see…" she said with a hint of suspicion, though reluctantly she left it at what it is to slip away. "Well anyway, I have a short mission for you two."

"A two-men cell mission?" Sakura questioned.

"Well welcome to the life of jonin," Tsunade replied dryly. She then pulled out a thin folder and chucked it towards Naruto. "The mission is simple, just a B-rank; nothing more, nothing less."

Naruto flipped open the folder and took out its contents. "A delivery mission?" he questioned as his eyes quickly gaze over the mission summary.

"Delivery mission?" Sakura snatched the piece of paper out of his hand and quickly went over it. "We have to deliver a cake to Kumo for the Raikage's birthday?" she looked at Tsunade quizzically. "Can't they make their own cake or something?"

"Well they could, but since we're all allies now, the other Kages and I decided that we should plan a special party for the Raikage's upcoming birthday. And Konoha is in charge of the cake."

"But why us?" Naruto then asked. "Can't you just send a team of genins for this?"

Tsunade sighed, sounding exhausted. She took in a deep breath then looked at the two with narrowed eyes. "That cake is important for our alliance, if it doesn't reach its destination, it can cause some trouble to the alliance – So you see, the reason I'm sending you two is because I can trust you to get it where it needs to be in one piece," A mischievous smile then placed itself onto the Hokage's lips. "Also, you two will also be representing me at the party, so remember to pack something nice to wear."

Tsunade had to groan inwardly as the two young jonins started their rambling. Why couldn't shinobis these days just listen to their orders without questions? What ever happened to those days? "Just deal with it!" she shouted at the top of her voice. It immediately quieted the two down, finally bringing her a piece of mind. "You two are dismissed."

Both turned to leave while muttering incoherent words, but a certain phrase caught itself in Tsunade's hearing range. "Old-hag…" Naruto muttered under his breath.

With a loud cry, a book was thrown and this time it did not miss its target. Tsunade grinned in satisfaction.

**xXx**

The whole trip towards Kumo was easy as…well, as easy could be. And the transition of the cake was successful. Now, all Naruto and Sakura had to do was get ready for the party, something that both weren't really looking forward to.

Naruto sighed as he entered his designated room. It was small in size, enough for one person, and looked quite comfy. He was given a separate room from Sakura, something that he found relieving. Sleeping in the same room with Sakura would not help him solve his recent tendency to feel queasy in her presence.

And the upcoming party would certainly not help. Now he would have to endure Sakura dressed up, looking all hot and glowing like an angel. He groaned, frustrated. Why couldn't things be like it was before, when things were normal between Sakura and him.

Naruto looked towards the watch hanging on the wall. It was only twelve in the afternoon and the party starts at eight-o'clock tonight. He had a decent eight hour to get some rest and to get ready. Seeing the comfy looking bed in the room, Naruto sighed inwardly in relief before collapsing onto the bed, completely and utterly exhausted.

"_Naruto…"_

What a familiar voice, Naruto thought unconsciously.

"_Naruto…"_

There it was a gone. What was such a beautiful was calling his name for?

"Naruto!"

The instant rise of volume instantly woke him. His eyes flipped open and had to blink a few times before his vision was finally clear.

"Wake up, Naruto!" It was Sakura.

"Sakura-chan?" He propped himself onto his elbow and gazed at Sakura sleepily. "What's wrong?" he then noticed what she was wearing and flinched backwards before clumsily falling off the bed. Her stunning appearance had struck him hard that he had to shake it off. To say that she was beautiful would be a complete understatement. With what she was dressed in, even angels would fall.

A weird yet familiar sensation made its way into his stomach. His heart suddenly stepped up a notch, he could feel the blood pumping through his veins and suddenly everything around him got painfully clear. And Sakura's beauty seemed to define itself more.

Naruto cornered himself into a wall as he realised what was happening. "What are you doing, Naruto? Get up; you're late for the party!"

"Huh, party?" Damn, he was so lost.

"Come on, get up," Sakura groaned and took a step towards him in an attempt to help him up but backed away instantly when Naruto flinched instinctively.

Naruto's eyes widened in realisation. He looked up instantly at her and saw how her expression turned from shock to hurt. "Sakura…" he called out but she was already out of the room. "Wait!"

Naruto immediately jumped onto his feet and dashed after her. "Just get ready," she said before slamming the front door. He stood still, not believing what just happened. Why did he flinch away? It was just Sakura for crying out loud! He knocked his head against the wall, frustrated.

Unknown to him, Sakura was right outside his door, collapsed against the door frame with a hand over her heart. Her scathed heart was now scarred deeper until a little chip was made on the surface. A tear dropped as she walked away.

**xXx**

For Sakura, life would be so much easier if she were to listen to her heart, but she was a stubborn person and everything she did she thought about beforehand without a care about what her heart thought about it, and so explained her dilemma at the Raikage's party.

She could have simply called in sick and stayed in her room, but no, she ignored her heart's plea for isolation and went to the party where the reason of her troubles lay. When she saw him enter the large room, she could've sworn everyone stopped to admire the young shinobi dressed in the fitting black suit. And she knew she was the one to have stared the longest. How couldn't she. He was perfect in every way. He was considerably tall, strong in the shoulders but not too bulky that he would lose his lean and agile figure. And his hair, his heavenly golden hair hung loose on his forehead. It was one of those rare sights to have Naruto not having his headband, to have his hair free and unruly as it should be without anything restraining it.

He looked so free, and every moved he did seemed so light and smooth. Of course, this was all her opinions of him. She was, after all, a girl in love. Yes, she admitted it, she was in love with non-other than the blond she was admiring – Naruto Uzumaki.

She realised it during the war. It was probably the shortest Shinobi war the villages had ever experienced, but to her it seemed like forever. Every day in her medic camp, healing wounded shinobis, her mind would always wonder to where Naruto was, what he was up to, if he was safe…if he was still alive. All those thoughts made her realise that she cared for him to much to call it genuine friendship. It was more than that and she knew it.

After the war, all she could think was him and the thirst to know more about him, more of what he was beyond the line of friendship.

Well, that was her plan, but every chance he had with him was always short and the easy atmosphere she would always have with him vanish to silence and awkwardness. Not to mention that lately his free expression would always turn anxious when around her. It hurt, a lot.

The reaction he had with her before sealed it. She was now confused and her heart ached, and it hurts even more to know that Naruto was the one to do it.

She spent the rest of the night simply staying on the opposite side of the room where she knew that her chances of running into Naruto were dim. And when it was time to head home to Konoha, she made sure to act as normal as she could around Naruto like nothing had ever happened between them. Like the way he flinched away from her touch.

She didn't know what was wrong with him, or if it was just her, but she'd give him space seeing that he needed it badly. It hurts to know that, but it hurts more to see him suffer from her presence.

**xXx**

**End of Prologue Part 1 **

**Hope you enjoyed and make sure to drop a review :)**

**-TheNoobTalk-**


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